


The Music of Your Heart

by TwiliDragonRin



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Can You Believe This Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Heartbeats, I Refuse To Name The Website Youtube, Now This Is The Fluffiest Thing I Wrote, Unless You Are Those Type Of People
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25439581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwiliDragonRin/pseuds/TwiliDragonRin
Summary: Dorothea was bored one day and stumbled upon the weird side of this video sharing website. And now she is a little interested in this person's weird videos where they share nothing but their heartbeat on a black screen. Dorothea needs to make a new account. Modern AU.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54





	The Music of Your Heart

After rehearsals, Dorothea had returned home to her apartment with nothing else to do. She did have to get started with dinner tonight, but she did not feel like making anything immediately as she got home. Dorothea wanted to relax, perhaps scroll through videos on her phone as she lounged about on her bed. She didn’t have to do any laundry, she didn’t have to clean up, everything was done prior to rehearsals so she had the right to relax.

She scrolled through the website, watching videos of cute pets then to listings of horrific events. Dorothea wasn’t sure why that was suggested to her, but she realized that she might be on the…weirder side of the video sharing website. Now she found herself in the ASMR side of the site and Dorothea felt like she probably might need to delete some videos from her history.

Dorothea scrolled through the videos that were being suggested to her. Some very obvious like ‘Ear Blowing,’ which Dorothea didn’t like. There was another with ‘Sleeping on Boyfriend’s Chest.’ Perhaps Dorothea may have taken a shot if it wasn’t a boyfriend. And there were other weirder ones like, ‘Werewolf Transformation.’

Dorothea sighed. “I definitely need to clean out my viewing history.”

But something caught her eye. One of the recommendations had the name, ‘My Relaxed Heartbeat.’ Dorothea paused for a moment, thinking, _‘Do these people record their heartbeats?’_ Perhaps curiosity got the better of her and had clicked it. Besides, it was only half a minute so it would not be long.

At first, she saw nothing but a black screen and was unable to hear anything. Dorothea had to wonder if this was some dumb clickbait video. It didn’t have that many views, there was less than a hundred views to be precise. But it also didn’t really have any dislikes. She scrolled below the video and looked at the description, only to find that she actually did have to wear headphones as it is recommended.

She could click away. She could push away this video and delete her history. But Dorothea knew that her curiosity had a firm grip on her. So with a defeated sigh, she grabbed her headphones that were sitting on her counter and plugged them into her phone then lowered the volume. Dorothea rewinded the video, paused it, then put her headphones in.

“Why am I even doing this?” Dorothea quietly asked herself as she unpaused.

It was very low, it was very quiet, but she heard the soft thumping clearly in her ears. Dorothea felt herself hold her breath. It was… _very weird._ She was hearing a heartbeat. She was listening to a _person’s heartbeat._ Listening to something such as this would be very intimate between two people, but here she is, listening to someone’s heartbeat who shared it for all who wanted to see—hear.

Even though she did not know how to feel about the circumstances that she put herself in, Dorothea did oddly feel…relaxed. True to the title, this person’s heart was slow, it was steady, and it was beating strongly. Once she raised the volume just a little, she was able to hear the breathing of the owner’s heart. It was slow and steady as well. And as soon as Dorothea closed her eyes and finally let herself listen with no more thoughts in her head, the video had ended.

Dorothea’s eyes widened when the thumping stopped then she sat up, she was able to breathe again. She was just getting used to the sound and it had ended so soon. She had forgotten that the video was only half a minute.

Now that the video was over and Dorothea’s curiosity had been satisfied, she could remove all of her videos from her viewing history. But just as she was removing the other videos from her history, she had hesitated on the one she just listened to. But why?

It was a simple click. That’s all she had to do. She just needed to click. But she never did.

Something in the back of Dorothea’s mind had told her that if she deleted that video, she would probably never find this person’s heart again.

Dorothea shook her head. “What am I thinking?! ‘This person’s heart?’ Wh-why would I think of such a thing?"

But her contemplating over deleting the video may have given her something else to consider. She sighed.

“I am so…so very weird,” she muttered quietly to herself.

Dorothea lied back down on her bed and stared at the screen for a bit before clicking the video again. She paused it before she could hear the heartbeat then scrolled to find the username. ‘TheFlameEmperor,’ and their icon was that of what looked like an eagle. Dorothea made a face.

“What kind of a name is that for a person sharing something so intimate?” Dorothea blurted out.

Still, she wanted to see if this person had posted any other videos. Dorothea clicked under the ‘video’ tab and surely enough, there were quite a few more videos with somewhat similar titles to the name. This, ‘FlameEmperor’ posted nothing but their heartbeat.

Dorothea definitely was on the weird side of the video website. But she was here, and it seems that this person has a firm grip on her, and that fact alone made her feel embarrassed. Maybe there was more that she can find out about this person because if this person happens to be under the age of twenty, Dorothea will strangle herself then delete the video.

Swiping her screen to the ‘About’ section of this person’s profile page revealed that this, ‘FlameEmperor’ was actually a woman who is twenty-five years old. Dorothea breathed in a sigh of relief. Dorothea did figure that TheFlameEmperor would not reveal their true name. _‘Of course they wouldn’t, they don’t want everyone knowing who they are,’_ she thought.

Perhaps they also wouldn’t want anyone realizing that this woman spends some of her free time recording audio of her heartbeat. Dorothea paused and felt her blood run cold. She doesn’t want anyone even knowing that she might be taking an interest in this sort of thing. Something like this? It’s very embarrassing.

“I think I’m gonna have to make a new account…” Dorothea sighed.

Dorothea had been quietly listening to TheFlameEmperor’s videos in her alternate account for six months. She realized early on that she uploaded once every two weeks and it always ended up being on a Sunday. She never stated why Sundays, but Dorothea found it very convenient.

Around the second month, Dorothea had practically embraced the idea that she loved to listen to this woman’s heartbeat. Not openly, but loved it, nonetheless. She eventually found the courage to leave them a comment on her videos as not a lot of people left her comments.

Dorothea’s first comment had gone like, “I have been listening to your heart for two months and I must say, it sounds very beautiful. I never thought that listening to someone’s heart is so peaceful and so relaxing. Coming home to your heartbeat every Sunday has been the highlight of my week. I just wished they were longer.”

It took hours for Dorothea post that.

Now she just posted simple comments like, “What a lovely heart you have,” or, “It’s always nice to ‘hear’ from you again.” Small things like that to show that someone really does like her videos.

It wasn’t until the third month that TheFlameEmperor had begun to ‘like’ Dorothea’s comments. Dorothea was taking a break during rehearsals and saw that she had a notification on the video website. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest when she saw that her recent comment had a small little heart next to it from TheFlameEmperor. Since then, every comment she posted had that same little heart right next to it.

By the fourth month, TheFlameEmperor began to reply back to Dorothea’s comments. At first, they were short and sweet with a simple, “Thank you.” But over time, the comments began to look more and more open and expressive.

TheFlameEmperor had replied with comments such as, “Your words flatter me, but they do put my heart at ease,” or, “Hmhm, perhaps I should post longer videos so you can enjoy them longer.” Sure enough, TheFlameEmperor began posting longer videos up to several minutes instead of less than a minute. Dorothea did thank her for the longer uploads in the comments, but she never did tell her how much she really needed them.

By the fifth month, Dorothea had built up the courage to ask TheFlameEmperor in her inbox if they wanted to privately message one another. She didn’t know why she needed to meet this FlameEmperor so badly, but she did know that she could not wait any longer. But Dorothea did give her the option to decline if they did not feel comfortable sharing any contact information. It took several days but she was given a response.

Dorothea waited patiently for the acceptance of her friend request.

She had wondered what kind of person TheFlameEmperor was for so long. Were they kind? Were they shallow? Were they something else that she had expected? Once the friend request was accepted, they typed for hours upon hours.

TheFlameEmperor’s real name was Edelgard von Hresvelg, and she lived in a house in Enbarr, much to Dorothea’s surprise. She loves sweets and enjoys eating them in her free time when she isn’t busy with work. She had other hobbies like painting, but her sharing her heartbeat is one of her secrets. A secret that Dorothea will keep all to herself.

Edelgard was surprised to find out that Dorothea was the very same Dorothea Arnult that works with the Mittelfrank Opera Company. Edelgard had mentioned that she did go to very few operas, but the operas she had gone were some of the best that she has seen. How odd how fate decided to play a game with Dorothea.

In the beginning of the sixth month, they had called each other for the first time. Edelgard sounded very formal, it almost sounded like a professional meeting, but upon being teased, she had let herself slip. Dorothea found her very cute. And since then, they have been calling as much as their busy schedules could allow for it. Midway through the month, they decided to try and video chat.

Dorothea loved that call more than anything. She did not expect Edelgard to have white hair. If Dorothea didn’t know any better, it could have been silk. Edelgard looked very stunned to see Dorothea. Dorothea thought that maybe Edelgard’s heart was stuck in her throat.

It wasn’t until a few weeks had passed when Dorothea finally decided to ask how she was able to capture her heartbeat so clearly in her videos.

Edelgard lit up and grabbed her equipment, which was only a stethoscope. Dorothea was very confused at first before Edelgard was able to explain further.

“I had made it myself,” she said almost proudly. “Instead of the bell connected to the earpieces, I made it connect to a microphone instead. It is very simple, really.”

“It does sound very simple,” Dorothea muttered as she stared at the stethoscope intently.

“Dorothea? You are spacing out, is something the matter?” Edelgard asked her.

Dorothea’s eyes lit up as she was pulled from her thoughts. She stared at Edelgard through the screen and bit her lip. There was a favor she wanted to ask, a private favor. An intimate one.

“Edie,” Dorothea called out to her. Edelgard froze a little, still not used to that nickname from Dorothea. “May…May I listen to your heart?”

It was quiet between the two of them for a long time. It was such a long time that Dorothea almost wished that she had taken back what she had asked. She opened her mouth to say something, but Edelgard had interrupted her before she could even say anything.

“Of course,” she said. “I have never had a…private audience.”

“First time for everything,” Dorothea teased.

Edelgard had connected the stethoscope mic into her computer and Dorothea held her breath. If she had known that this is the route that she would have ended up in seven months ago when she first clicked that video, she never would have believed it.

But Edelgard slowly placed the bell onto her chest and Dorothea let out a soft sigh at the first thump she heard. It was one thing listening to pre-recordings of Edelgard’s heart but listening to them like this was something completely different.

Edelgard’s heart was beating hard and it was a little unsteady.

“You nervous?” Dorothea asked her. Edelgard only replied with a slow nod. Perhaps she did not want to disrupt the sound with her voice.

Dorothea wouldn’t be surprised if that was because Edelgard was a little nervous because of her listening. Still, she wanted to tease her a little more.

“It still sounds beautiful. It sounds so strong too,” Dorothea added, which earned her a skip. “Oh my, did I do that?”

Edelgard had to turn her head away from the screen. It wasn’t able to hide the blush from her cheeks.

“Oh Edie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you fluster, or perhaps I did.” Instead of a skip, her heart was beating a little harder. Dorothea loved to learn that her words are having an effect on Edelgard’s heart. “Poor thing, don’t strain yourself.”

After that, Dorothea stayed quiet. It took a few minutes but Edelgard’s heart was finally able to find the peace it needed. It grew steady in her ears and she let out another sigh. Dorothea placed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart trying to match Edelgard’s rhythm.

Dorothea never would have expected this to happen when she clicked that video. Falling in love with a woman through her heartbeat.

Dorothea had finally taken the initiative three months later. They both had video chatted for those three months and she had to ask Edelgard a very dangerous question. A question that she never regretted. It had been ten full and blissful months since she first found that fateful video, so she knew the question had to be asked.

“Edie,” Dorothea began, her voice growing a little serious. “Do you think, since we both live in Enbarr, that I could pay you a visit?”

Edelgard’s eyes grew wide and for that moment, time stood still. Dorothea sat there, waiting for her answer, her heart getting louder in her ears. One second passed, then another, then another, and Dorothea felt like she was suffocating.

“I would love that.”

It was a week later when they first met in person.

Edelgard was very short compared to her.

But Dorothea found her very adorable nonetheless, even if Edelgard insisted against it.

They spent weeks and weeks visiting each other whenever they both had the free time. When Edelgard was not busy with her business, and Dorothea was not busy with her rehearsals. In fact, Edelgard was finally able to visit one of Dorothea’s performances. Dorothea could spot that white hair a mile away, even during her performance.

Now in the present time, here they lie on Dorothea’s bed. Dorothea lying above Edelgard’s chest not really staring at anything, as Edelgard runs her fingers through Dorothea’s hair, staring at the ceiling. It was quiet in the room for Edelgard, but for Dorothea, it was loud. The sound of her dear love was beating against her ear.

“Edie?” Dorothea said questioningly, being very quiet as to not startle her heart.

“Yes, Thea?”

“How did this happen? Us?”

Edelgard was quiet for a moment, thinking. “You were very persistent.”

“Was I really?” Dorothea giggles softly. “I only left comments…”

“But those comments made me…happy.”

Dorothea lifts her head up a little so she could stare at Edelgard. “Really?”

Edelgard lowered her head, meeting Dorothea’s eyes. She had a small smile, her cheeks growing warm. “I would never say a thing if I do not mean it, you know this.”

“I know, just—” Dorothea lowers her head back on Edelgard’s chest. “When you first liked one of my comments, my heart skipped.”

It was Edelgard’s turn to chuckle. “I would not be surprised if it did.”

They were silent again. Edelgard returns to stare at the ceiling while Dorothea was still keeping her eyes on Edelgard. One of her hands reaches down and holds Edelgard’s hand, intertwining their fingers together. It rewards her with a skip in Edelgard’s heart.

Dorothea sighs happily. She wanted to continue this forever. But there was something she needed to ask her. Something she wanted to ask Edelgard back when she knew her as TheFlameEmperor.

“Edie?”

“Yes, Thea?”

“Why do you record your heartbeat? Why post it for others to see?”

Edelgard’s heart began to pound in her chest. From that sudden change, Dorothea knew that she had asked a sensitive question. Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked. Before Dorothea could tell Edelgard not to answer her, Edelgard spoke up.

“It is because…” she pauses, her heart getting louder in her chest. “…I almost died a long time ago, Thea.”

Dorothea’s eyes widen and immediately sits up on her bed, staring down at Edelgard. Those words rocked Dorothea to her core. “You…you almost…died?” It didn’t sound right.

“Yes…I was in a very horrible accident when I was little, I was the only one of my siblings that lived and…” Tears stung Edelgard’s eyes and Dorothea gently touches her cheek.

“Edie…don’t tell me—”

“I record my heart every day because it reminds me that I am still alive,” she says. “I grow scared being unable to hear my heart. That one day I shall wake up to that terrible accident and feel it stop within my chest. So…it is a reminder. That I am still here. And when my time comes, that I _was_ here. That I am still needed.” Edelgard turns her head, looking at Dorothea into her eyes. “That I am still wanted.”

“Oh Edie…” Now Dorothea was crying.

Dorothea lowers herself and presses her lips to Edelgard’s, sharing a very tender and sweet kiss. Dorothea feels her heart melt, feeling Edelgard’s heart race.

Never had Dorothea imagined this would happen when she clicked on that video. A video of a woman who was scared of losing her special sound to a cruel world. Now that circumstances and fate had brought them together, Dorothea never wanted to let go.

Dorothea never wanted to let go of Edelgard, nor does she want to lose the music of her heart.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I wrote this. Wow I cannot believe I wrote this. I wrote this. Oh My Gods I wrote this. Uhm. I hope you enjoyed this because I absolutely did.


End file.
